


Pinky Promise

by Mysenia



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Magic, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 19:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10600551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysenia/pseuds/Mysenia
Summary: When the Fates intervene during a promise made between Peter and Claudia, its effects are far-reaching and more profound than either of them could have predicted.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladypigswagon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladypigswagon/gifts).



> For the lovely Lady, I wish you the happiest of birthdays! Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow <3
> 
> Special thanks to [TriDom](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TriDom/pseuds/TriDom) for looking this over for me.

There are times in life when one wishes they had done things differently, curses at a decision in the past that lead to an outcome that was not so great, or even just having the thought of what if they had said yes instead of no and vice versa. For Peter, in this moment, he honestly cannot tell if the decision he made all those years ago was a good one or not. Even from where he is, bound as he is to a child who now holds his life in those very tiny hands.

* * *

“Talia, I do not care how much you beg, I am not going to the meeting,” Peter said for what felt like the twentieth time. Sometimes his sister, and Alpha, just did not know when to quit.

Talia sighed, obviously exasperated. “Peter, I do not care to hear any more reasons or excuses. You are my Second, you will be going, end of story.”

Peter glowered at Talia. “And why, pray tell, is my presence needed at this meeting? So far as I know nothing important will be discussed, likely a swapping of baby stories too,” Peter shuddered, “and I _do not_ need to be witness to that. Unless, of course, you’ve been keeping information from me. Have you, Talia?” Peter asked, his eyes widening and voice taking on a false taken aback tone.

As her Second, it was Peter’s job to know everything even if he was not allowed a say in it. So either Talia did not know information and wanted Peter along to observe and try to parse it out, or it was not her place to say.

Talia raised a brow at him, clearly unimpressed with his theatrics. “Claudia requested you come to the meeting,” she finally admitted.

And that stumped Peter, for Claudia was one of the most powerful magic users on the Council and rarely had use for someone whose job it was to dispose of any threats to his pack. Claudia had her own means of dealing with threats and certainly did not need his help for it. Which caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end for if one such as Claudia was requesting his presence, it could not mean anything good.

“And did she say _why_ she wants me to attend?”

Talia pursed her lips. “She said that she has something she would like to ask you, and you alone.”

Peter took a deep breath. Generally if a request was coming from the Council, the person receiving the request would get an official summons. There was an etiquette to it or something that Peter rarely paid attention to. Having a personal request from a Council member was nigh on unheard of, especially for someone of Peter’s ilk. Talia sat on the Council for a reason - if a request was to be made of a werewolf it had to be filtered through their Alpha first, for pack safety.

The fact that Claudia had something she wanted to ask of Peter and would not disclose that to his Alpha? Well, it certainly intrigued Peter enough that he was more than willing to see what the magic user wanted but also sent a kernel of fear shooting through him. 

“I see,” he hummed as he walked out of the room. “I guess I can do nothing but accompany you.” 

The door closed behind him with a resounding thud.

* * *

“Peter?”

Peter crouches down so he is level with his little soulmate. “Yes, my moon?”

Stiles lights up at the endearment, just like always, and smiles goofily at Peter. “Do you want to play Legos with me?” Stiles asks, all uncertainty and hopefulness. 

Peter grits his teeth. “Of course,” he says anyway.

Stiles smiles and is off like a shot to go grab his box of Lego. The gift had been from Talia, because his sister liked his pain, and Stiles always wanted to play with it whenever Peter visited. It was not that Peter minded spending time with Stiles, quite the opposite in fact, but he really hated the little building blocks that he unfailingly always managed to step on.

When Stiles tottered back in, his four year old self just managing to carry the big box, Peter took a moment to reflect on how he had ended up where he was. Soulmates were not an uncommon thing in the world, more and more people being born every day with their other half’s etchings on their skin. No, the uncommon part of the entire situation was that Peter had not been born with etchings.

Being markless had almost been a point of pride for Peter, stating to the world that he could manage well enough on his own - that his soul was complete just the way it was. 

Yet, here he was, etched and bound to a _child_. Sure, that child would grow up and their relationship would evolve over the years, but it was so mind boggling that he was even in a situation where he was thinking of such things. Peter thumbed along his collarbone, from right to left, where Stiles’ etchings stood loudly. 

A little hand tracing the etching startled Peter out of his thoughts and he looked to see Stiles reverently tracing the marks along Peter’s collarbone. Stiles was obsessed with his mark on Peter’s skin and when they curled up to watch movies or cartoons, the child always traced them. It seemed to soothe Stiles to trace them so Peter never stopped him.

“You look so pretty, Peter,” Stiles grinned up at him before stepping away. “Come on, it’s Lego time!”

Peter flushed faintly at the compliment and allowed his soulmate to pull him towards the Lego. How quickly the little one wormed his way into Peter’s heart.

* * *

The Council was made of up a select number of supernaturals who either held sway within their community (Talia as Alpha of the Hale pack, for example, spoke for all of the werewolves located in North America) or had the unique position of being extremely powerful (Claudia Stilinski, the most powerful magic user of their generation). It was rather intimidating to walk into the room and be surrounded by individuals who held so much sway. Even when it came to the government, the suggestions of the Council were highly valued.

The power in the room was almost palpable.

“Peter!” Claudia called to him thus ensuring that every person in the room turned to look at him. “I am so glad you accepted my invitation.”

Peter scoffed, internally of course, because it was not like he had much of a choice. When one of the Council, nay when Claudia Stilinski requested your presence, you did not ignore that summons. Peter inclined his head at her with a slight smirk.

“How could I say no to being in the presence of your beauty?” He asked with a twinkle in his eye. 

Claudia rolled her eyes and gestured for him to come towards her. Every step forward felt weighted and he knew that every eye in the room was still upon him. Even Talia, already having taken her seat, watched with barely suppressed wonder at the proceedings.

“I’ll bet you’re wondering why I’ve asked you to come today.”

“No, actually, I thought I would just show up for the fun of it and spy on your little gathering,” Peter snarked. He enjoyed the bristling of those around him as Claudia regarded him with a hint of a smirk.

“You will sit by me today, Peter, and we will discuss our business afterwards,” she said, indicating the seat to her right. The spot was usually reserved for her husband, Sheriff Stilinski, or removed from the circle so as not to tempt people to sit too close to her. Peter sat himself gingerly and contented himself with the knowledge that he would soon get his answers.

* * *

Stiles at age eight was not all that different from Stiles at age six or four, he just had a bigger vocabulary to go along with his seemingly endless energy and need to voice his every thought. Peter sat watching Stiles as he continued to talk about his day, his hands gesticulating wildly to express his emotions.

Peter loved listening to Stiles speak but he will admit freely that he loved watching Stiles emote even more. His soulmate had this way of talking that encompassed his entire body and yet did not over dramatize was he was saying.

“And then they said that our bond wasn’t as special because it was made,” Stiles finished off on a whisper, his voice going hoarse. That had Peter sitting up straight.

“And who, exactly, told you that our soulbond was not special?” He asked, barely containing his rage.

“Jackson and Theo.”

Of fucking course it would be those two. They were the bane of his soulmates existence and if it would not have far reaching consequences, then Peter would have dealt with them a long time ago. As it was, all he did was soothe his upset soulmate.

“Do you want to know why our soulbond is the most special of all?” Peter asked as he gathered Stiles’ hands in his bigger ones. Stiles may have been a magic user, one slated to be even more powerful than his mother, but when Peter held him tight he could not help but think how very fragile Stiles really was.

“Don’t give me some sugar coated story, Peter, I don’t want to hear it,” Stiles huffed, trying to pull his hands out of Peter’s grip. Peter merely held on tighter.

“Well, look who’s all sass now,” Peter winked at Stiles, happy that it managed to pull a slight smile from his soulmate. “Our soulbond is special because I chose it.”

“Yeah, I know you chose it.”

Peter tried a different tactic. “Do you think someone would have willingly chosen to bind themselves to either Jackson or Theo?” He asked, watching as what he said seemed to dawn on Stiles.

Stiles perked up. “No.”

Peter smiled. “Exactly. Whoever is soulbound to those two did not have a say. They are stuck with them and all their stupidity. You, however, are in a bond where your other half chose it. _I chose you_. I chose to enter into a soulbond with you. No one else in the entire world can say that about their soulmate.”

A faint pinkness coloured Stiles’ cheeks as he looked up at Peter from under his lashes. “Our bond is special,” Stiles reiterated.

“Damn straight it is!”

“Language!”

Both Peter and Stiles ducked at the yelled out admonishment, looking at each other with conspiring grins. Peter may not have been born with Stiles’ etchings but he wore them proudly now. Their bond _was_ special and no dimwitted jackasses would ever be able to detract from the realness of it.

* * *

Council meetings were generally boring, just two hours of talking about updates to this or that, or informing the others of anything that had arisen since the last meeting. Since there seemed to be a lull in any uprisings, the meeting ended without anyone droning on, thankfully.

Peter did not want to seem too eager to hear whatever Claudia had to say but he could not deny that his curiosity was at an all time high. There were many things that she could ask of him but none that she could also not ask any number of other people. While Peter knew he had a specific skill set, and that he excelled at what he did, he was also able to acknowledge that there were others who could do, and did do, what he did almost as well.

Slowly but surely the Council chamber emptied and only Claudia and Peter were left. The room was soundproofed so even Talia would not be able to hear what was being said once the door was closed. Peter turned to Claudia expectantly and was unsurprised to find her already observing him.

“Thank you for coming, Peter. I’m sure you have many questions and I hope to be able to answer them all for you,” Claudia began, uncharacteristically rubbing her hands together. “I want to start off by saying that, though it may not seem it, you do have a choice in this. What I will be asking of you does not come from Claudia the Mage but rather from Claudia the mother to be.”

Peter nodded. He was even more intrigued than before.

“In 9 and a half years, I am going to die,” she stated, calm as you fucking please while Peter scrambled to not let his jaw drop. “When that day comes, I will be leaving behind a little boy who won’t have anything to anchor him and the result of that will be devastation.”

Peter struggled to find something to say, a definite first for him. He may have only been nineteen in years of age but as a wolf he was much more advanced. Wolf cubs dreamt in tales of old so that they were prepared for the world, a throwback to when werewolf packs were routinely slaughtered. It had been a plea from an Alpha to a Mage many centuries ago that gave them that ability and thus Peter was rarely, if ever, stumped. He knew things that most would not because of a magic that wanted to give them the most advantage it could to weak little pups.

“The world would recover but that little boy, my son, would never be the same. He will grow bitter and hide himself away from the world, and I do not want that for him,” Claudia explained, her eyes imploring Peter to understand but he did not, not yet.

“I do--what exactly are you asking of me?”

Claudia took a deep breath. “I want you to become my son’s anchor. I want you to protect him and love him, and show him that the world isn’t a horrible place even though I’m gone.”

“That’s a lot to ask of me, Claudia,” Peter said, his stomach churning unpleasantly. “Why me?”

“Because you don’t have a soulmate.”

Peter flinched, a tic that he had never quite managed to rid himself of. He was _happy_ that he did not have a soulmate but that did not mean he did not sometimes wish for it in the depths of his mind. To have it thrown at his so callously, especially by one such as Claudia, he can honestly say he had not expected.

“For that very reason, you will be able to dedicate yourself to protecting and caring for my son. Your loyalties won’t be divided. He will need your full devotion, and as an unbonded, you are the only one who can promise me your fealty.”

Peter sat back as his mind whirred over the new information. He tried dissecting it, tried understanding it, but it was as if his brain had a sudden bought of vertigo. Every thought that he tried to grasp tilted away and left him reeling.

“Claudia,” he beseeched, her name filled with every doubt and uncertainty and disbelief currently swimming through him.

“You can do it, Peter. I know you can, I’ve seen it.”

Seers were few and far between, even in the supernatural world, and for Claudia to openly admit to her abilities shocked Peter. There were tales of Seers being kidnapped, of horrible things being wrought on them to give their captors what they wanted. Claudia had all but given Peter the knife to wield at her neck if ever he chose to.

“Please, Peter. He will be my only son and I would see a better life for him than the one that the Fates have cast,” Claudia pleaded, and if it were anyone else Peter would have refused right away. However, this was Claudia Stilinski, the Mage who was always fair and strived to do her best by those under her protection. If ever there was a Mage that Peter would swear fealty to, it would be her.

Claudia Stilinski radiated goodness and was a being deserving of followers.

Peter closed his eyes as he let his plans for the future fade away. Peter had done enough research on the Stilinskis, and had known them long enough, to accept that he would do what Claudia had asked because he knew her character.

“I promise,” he said, looking Claudia straight in the eye.

And because she was the way the way, Claudia smiled and reached her hand out, crooking her little finger. “Pinky promise.”

And Peter indulged her, hooking his pinky finger with hers, as they sealed the promise.

* * *

Stiles at age 10 was a lot different from Stiles at age 8. There was a somberness to his countenance that rubbed Peter wrong and brought his wolf to the fore, urging him to soothe their mate. 

The passing of Claudia Stilinski wrought a change throughout all of the supernatural world but the most stark change was to her only son, Mieczyslaw “Stiles” Stilinski. Gone was the jubilant child who ran everywhere because walking just was not fast enough. Gone was the child that could not wait to go home.

Stiles at age 10 cried more than even infant Stiles ever did, and Peter hated it. He knew this day was coming but no amount of knowledge could ever prepare him to help his soulmate deal with the grief of his mother dying.

Peter made sure to be there whenever Stiles needed him, be it at school in his wolf form or in the middle of the night to chase away nightmares. Peter fulfilled the promise that he had made to Claudia the day that his life had changed forever - the day Stiles’ etchings carved their way across Peter’s collarbones.

No one could have told Peter that he would love Stiles as much as he does when he made that promise, but he would not change a thing. While he would take away his soulmates pain if he could, if there had been no threat of pain then Peter never would have ended up with his little mate.

Peter both loathed and loved Claudia Stilinski in that moment.

“I love you, my moon,” he whispered into Stiles’ hair as he rocked his little soulmate to sleep. Stiles murmured in his sleep and snuggled closer, his hands clutching Peter’s shirt tight where he lay circled in the wolf’s arms.

There had been an explosion when Claudia died, of Stiles’ magic manifesting its grief in fires and destruction. It had been a bad time and Peter had been the only one able to get close to Stiles, not even his father managing that feat. It made Peter wonder what it would have been like had Peter not be in Stiles’ life.

He shuddered at the thought.

He would not give his soulmate up for anything even if he was now in a place he had never imagined for himself when he was younger.

* * *

Peter hissed as a burning sensation blazed itself across his collarbones, leaving behind blood and raised skin. Peter jumped back from Claudia and flashed his fangs at her. She stood where he had left her, her hand still raised and pinky still crooked.

“What did you do?” He roared as he tried to hunch in on himself, tried to will away the pain.

“Nothing.”

Peter roared again. “Don’t you lie to me!”

Claudia let her hands drop to her sides. “Honestly, Peter, I did not do anything.”

Peter waved at his collarbones where he could feel the damage done to his skin. “Then explain to me what this is.”

Claudia approached him slowly, waiting for Peter to give her a sign as to whether she could continue. He nodded though his fangs and claws were still visible. Claudia did not attempt to touch him but she did examine the wound and gasped.

“What is it?”

Claudia’s eyes sought his out and he saw surprise and awe. “That’s an etching.”

“That’s impossible.”

Claudia rolled her eyes at him. “Clearly it’s not for that is exactly what is marked upon your skin, the etchings of a soulbond.”

Peter looked around the room and marched over to the mirror that he spotted along one wall. Since he liked to wear v-necked shirts, he did not have to pull aside the material to view what was plain as day to see: a soulbond etching.

The marks were black as night and were in a combination of runes that Peter had never seen before. Most soulmate etchings were made up of runes that, while all were in a different combination, were at least known to the world. Peter could not make heads nor tails of the runes, though the shapes of some looked familiar if one only changed a known rune slightly.

He turned back to Claudia. “Do you know what runes these are?”

Claudia shook her head.

“Do you think this has something to do with the promise we just made?” Peter asked, barely curbing the urge to run his fingers along the still burning etchings.

Claudia looked thoughtful and hummed. “I’ve never known Fate to step in in such a profound way, but I wouldn’t put it past the magic of the world.”

Peter huffed, unimpressed. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

Soulbonds were a funny thing but everyone knew not to meddle with them. Soulbonds were the product of magics older than time and completely unknown to the world.

“No, Peter, I can say honestly that I had no idea this would happen.”

Peter listened for the lie but heard none, and while he knew that the Mage could absolutely level out her heartbeat but he felt she would not lie in this instance. There was too much about the situation that screamed of a helping hand that not even a Mage of Claudia’s calibre would be willing to go up against.

“I think it’s because you chose this, Peter. You chose to align yourself to my son and I believe the magics of the world, the Fates, recognized that and set about making it right,” Claudia said, nodding decisively. 

Put that way, Peter could admit that it made sense. He still felt thrown off his axis, knew that it would still take awhile before he felt comfortable in his own skin, but as he had accepted Claudia’s request for a promise, so too did he accept this.

* * *

Stiles at 18 was a lot happier than Stiles at 10 and Peter was forever grateful for it. They still mourned the loss of Claudia, Stiles still had nightmares and days where his eyes seemed haunted, but he was happier. Stiles was making plans to go to college and Peter was making plans to buy a place wherever his soulmate chose to relocate them. 

Peter was a 37 year old werewolf and just settling down in his life, now that his soulmate was old enough to settle down with. Peter did not resent the years he spent as a best friend to his little mate but he certainly looked forward to be able to explore his little mate like Stiles was urging him too.

Peter knows in that moment that saying yes all those years ago was the right decision. And to think, Peter was where he was all thanks to a little pinky promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.
> 
> ~ M


End file.
